The Women of 'Mad Men' Talk About the Show's Dark Twist

Mad Men stars Jessica Paré and January Jones analyzed their characters' evolution in the show's sixth season at a special program at the Paley Center for Media in New York last night.

Paré, who stars as Megan, Don Draper's second wife, said last year that Megan "was struggling with her decision to become an actor, but this year she's got a job. She's a career woman; she has a home, a family, and a husband—she's kinda got it all. It's sort of a precarious position for anybody to be in, now obviously as much as then."

For her part, Jones—who portrays Betty, Don Draper's first wife, now married to Henry Francis—said her character "is always trying to find a place in her life where she can be happy, and she's maybe not sure what that is going to be always, but she continues to try. Overall, I find it to be darker and sadder, the show as a whole."

Asked what surprised her most about plot developments in the sixth season, Jones pointed to its generally dark tone.

"Matt (Weiner, producer and writer of Mad Men) will say it, too. I've heard him say it, it's dark, it's dark. 1968 was a really tough year for America and Americans, I think you'll see that in the characters," Jones said.

Paré said for Megan, "the miscarriage was something that I hadn't seen coming. But for me both as an actor and for Megan, it was pretty great that we got to go to Hawaii."

Kiernan Shipka—who portrays Betty and Don Draper's oldest child, Sally—discussed the dress she was wearing, a red and black Oscar de la Renta. She said she loved its silhouette, "I love stuff that's sort of fitted at one point and then it flares out to kind of give balance. I think that's really pretty."

Now that the filming of the sixth season is over, Shipka said she is "still very active," doing taekwondo (she has a black belt), tennis, "just doing school and all sorts of fun stuff." Oh to be young!

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